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Greek Terracotta Figurines with Articulated Limbs

• 
  Standing male figurine holding a quadruped, ca. 750–600 b.c.
  Cypriot; Said to be from a tomb at Ormidhia
  Terracotta
  

  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by Subscription, 1873-76 (74.51.1613)

  Standing warrior (?), ca. 750–600 b.c.
  Cypriot; Said to be from a tomb at Ormidhia
  Terracotta
  

  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by Subscription, 1873-76 (74.51.1614)

  Standing warrior with a shield, ca. 750–600 b.c.
  Cypriot; Said to be from Ormidhia
  Terracotta
  

  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by Subscription, 1873-76 (74.51.1655)

  Standing male figurine playing a double flute, ca. 750–600 b.c.
  Cypriot; Said to be from a tomb at Ormidhia
  Terracotta
  

  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by Subscription, 1873-76 (74.51.1691)

  Standing male figurine, ca. 750–600 b.c.
  Cypriot; Said to be from a tomb at Ormidhia
  Terracotta
  

  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by Subscription, 1873-76 (74.51.1692)

• 
  Fragmentary terracotta pinax (plaque) with a dancing girl, 5th century b.c.
  Cretan; Excavated in Praisos
  

  Gift of the Archaeological Institute of America, 1953 (53.5.39)

• 
  Terracotta figurine with articulated arms and legs, early 5th century b.c.
  Greek, Corinthian
  

  Rogers Fund, 1944 (44.11.8)

• 
  Statuette of a seated youth with articulated arms, late 4th–early 3rd century b.c.
  Greek, Boeotian; Said to be from Thebes
  Terracotta
  

  Purchase, 1901 (01.13.1)

  Statuette of a seated girl with articulated arms, late 4th–early 3rd century b.c.
  Greek, Boeotian; Said to be from Thebes
  Terracotta
  

  Purchase, 1901 (01.13.2)

• 
  Bone figurine with articulated arms and legs, 3rd century b.c.
  Greek; Said to be from Tarentum
  

  Rogers Fund, 1911 (11.212.43)

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Terracotta figurines were rather familiar objects to the ancient Greeks. Fragments and complete pieces found in the course of archaeological excavations form the primary basis for our understanding of how the figurines were used. They stood in houses as mere decorations, or served as cult images in small house shrines; some of them functioned as charms to ward off evil. They were brought to temples and sanctuaries as offerings to the gods and deposited in graves either as cherished possessions of the deceased, as gifts, or as protective devices.

The movement of the limbs certainly lent vitality to a figurine, while adding a magical aspect.

Related

Timelines (4)

• Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
• Southern Europe, 2000–1000 B.C.
• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 2000–1000 B.C.
• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece
• Geometric and Archaic Cyprus
• Greek Gods and Religious Practices
• Hellenistic and Roman Cyprus

Other Thematic Essays (10)

• Ancient Greek Dress
• Architecture in Ancient Greece
• Early Cycladic Art and Culture
• Geometric Art in Ancient Greece
• List of Rulers of the Ancient Greek World
• Mycenaean Civilization
• Scenes of Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
• Tanagra Figurines
• Theater in Ancient Greece
• Women in Classical Greece

Maps (5)

• Europe, 2000–1000 b.c.
• Europe, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• West Asia, 2000–1000 b.c.
• West Asia, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• World, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.

Index Terms (18)

Art Movement/Style

• Archaic Period in Greek Art
• Classical Period in Greek Art
• Cypriot Art
• Hellenistic Period in Greek Art

Material and Technique

• Bone
• Ceramic from the Balkan Peninsula
• Ceramic from West Asia
• Painted Ceramic from West Asia
• Plaque
• Relief Sculpture from Europe
• Sculpture in the Round from the Balkan Peninsula
• Sculpture in the Round from West Asia

Object

• Amulet

Subject Matter/Theme

• Archaeology from Europe
• Child
• Dance and Dancing
• Magic
• Warrior

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Among the numerous types of Greek terracotta figurines, one group stands out. These are figurines with jointed or movable limbs; this means that their legs, arms (01.13.1,2), and sometimes even heads were made separately and attached to the body after firing. Statuettes of this type represent a class common all over the Greek and Roman world during all periods. Such figurines existed in Greece as early as the tenth century B.C., were widely popular in Cyprus from the eighth century B.C. onward (74.51.1655,14,13,91,92), and continued down through the Roman period. The vast majority of these figurines have suspension holes on top of their heads; the dangling arms and legs were in motion when the figurines were shaken or hung. The movement of the limbs certainly lent vitality to a figurine, while adding a magical aspect.

Terracotta figurines with articulated limbs are often described as dolls or children's toys, and are sometimes thought to have been dressed in clothes. While one cannot simply dismiss these assumptions, it must be pointed out that this hypothesis is based on an inaccurate reading of an ancient epigram, which was originally interpreted to say that a girl named Timareta dedicated to the goddess (at a sanctuary) her dolls and their dresses. However, more recently it has been convincingly argued that she in fact dedicated her hair and her own clothing. Another point to be made against the figurines being play things is that they are too fragile (11.212.43) to be constantly handled by children. The fact that these "dolls" are often discovered in the graves of adults indicates their possible chthonic connection or apotropaic function. In addition, the movement these figurines were capable of when swinging, as well as the clanking noise they produced, might have made them attractive charms.

Given so many choices, it is rather difficult to define a single purpose for the articulated figurines. The fact that they could move would seem to be essential to understanding their function and meaning, which have not been satisfactorily explained thus far.

Maya B. Muratov Bothmer Fellow, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation

Muratov, Maya B. "Greek Terracotta Figurines with Articulated Limbs". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gtal/hd_gtal.htm (October 2004)

Further Reading

Karageorghis, V. "Soldiers and Other Toys in the Coroplastic Art of Cyprus." In Acta Cypria, part 2, edited by Paul Aström, pp. 171–83. Jonsered: P. Aströms Förlag, 1992.

Lonsdale, Steven H. Dance and Ritual Play in Greek Religion. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.

Thompson, Dorothy Burr. "The Terracottas." In Small Objects from the Pnyx, vol. 1, edited by Gladys R. Davidson and Dorothy Burr Thompson, pp. 112–66. Baltimore: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1943.